Xu Jingming stood at 186 centimeters, and his appearance on the roof of the bus immediately drew the attention of the Sabre-toothed Tigers in the square. With the exception of the leader, who lazily continued to lie in the center, the other nine resting Sabre-toothed Tigers rose simultaneously. Their eyes burned with ferocity as they slowly advanced toward the bus.
Although their movements weren't fast, nine enormous Sabre-toothed Tigers, each the size of a car, gathered together created an incredibly intimidating spectacle. This is why packs of ferocious beasts were always considered extremely dangerous opponents. It could be said that even a High-Rank First-Stage ferocious beast would not dare to lightly trifle with these nine Sabre-toothed Tigers!
Yet, facing the nine Sabre-toothed Tigers moving toward him simultaneously, Xu Jingming showed not the slightest fear. He jumped off the roof of the bus, landing on the ground with a heavy thud.
"Rrrroar!" Accompanied by a low growl, the nine Sabre-toothed Tigers, which had been moving slowly, suddenly scattered in a surprisingly human-like manner. They then began to attack Xu Jingming from different directions!
"It's true that a pack of ferocious beasts led by a dominant male is capable of much. They've even learned the simplest tactical formations," Xu Jingming thought, gripping the black spear that was already in his hands.
The distance between the bus and the square was only thirty meters, which was nothing for the Lower-Rank First-Stage Sabre-toothed Tigers. In the blink of an eye, the nine Sabre-toothed Tigers were less than five meters away from Xu Jingming.
However, these Sabre-toothed Tigers did not lunge at him all at once. Five of them attacked first, leaping at Xu Jingming!
Five massive Sabre-toothed Tigers, huddled together, blocked all of Xu Jingming's routes of retreat forward! And behind him stood the abandoned bus, preventing any backward retreat!
In other words, at this moment, Xu Jingming had nowhere to run!
Facing this situation, Xu Jingming's eyes remained resolute, and his black spear, two meters and ten centimeters long, spun like a huge wind turbine. The rotating spear transformed into a black shadow, resembling a rapidly spinning propeller!
At this instant, the Sabre-toothed Tigers realized that something was wrong, but it was already too late!
The five Sabre-toothed Tigers, completely unprepared for this, ran straight into the rapidly rotating black spear.
Chwack! Chwack!
The sharp tip of the black spear, like a meat grinder, instantly sliced through the heads of the five Sabre-toothed Tigers, staining them with blood. Then, under the impact of the powerful force, the tigers crashed to the ground!
Though their heads had sustained severe damage, these five Sabre-toothed Tigers were not yet dead. Lying on the ground, they were still showing signs of life.
"Physical strength alone still isn't quite enough after all," Xu Jingming shook his head.
This spear-spinning move relied purely on his physical power and wasn't a combat technique. If this move combined physical strength with his superpower, these five ferocious beasts would have been instantly killed at that very moment.
"Still, it's not bad. I just need to finish them off," Xu Jingming thought, charging back into the fray.
The remaining four Sabre-toothed Tigers tried to block Xu Jingming's path, but he deftly dodged them thanks to his agility. Then, his black spear, like the Scythe of Death, took the lives of the five severely wounded Sabre-toothed Tigers one after another.
"Rrrroar!" At this moment, the Mid-Rank First-Stage Sabre-toothed Tiger leader, which had been lying in the center until now, finally realized the danger and stood up, stepping in front of the remaining four Sabre-toothed Tigers.
"Excellent, I'll take care of all of you at once," Xu Jingming said, pulling the black spear out of a Sabre-toothed Tiger's body with a slight clang.
Holding the long spear, Xu Jingming stood alone, facing five Sabre-toothed Tigers. There was no trace of fear in his clear eyes, only endless coldness and a thirst for the kill.
"Rrrroar!!" Whether it was due to the deaths of so many of its kin or if Xu Jingming's unwavering gaze enraged it, the Sabre-toothed Tiger leader let out a furious roar and, along with the remaining four tigers, lunged into the attack!
Xu Jingming, holding his spear ready, dashed to meet them, engaging in a fierce battle with the five Sabre-toothed Tigers.
Although Sabre-toothed Tigers were ferocious beasts, they possessed a degree of intelligence. Especially this group of tigers, having gone through many battles together, which had killed quite a few strong ferocious beasts!
Such a group of five Sabre-toothed Tigers, were they to appear in a city, could wipe out an entire squad of a hundred elite soldiers!
However, Xu Jingming turned into a black shadow, gliding between the Sabre-toothed Tigers. They couldn't inflict any real damage on him!
And every spear thrust from Xu Jingming was aimed at a vital point, either instantly killing the Sabre-toothed Tigers or inflicting severe wounds upon them.
Thus, in less than two minutes, all the Sabre-toothed Tigers fell to his spear.
"Even a Mid-Rank First-Stage ferocious beast wasn't all that strong. I didn't even have to use my superpower," Xu Jingming shook his head, looking down at the lifeless leader of the Sabre-toothed Tigers at his feet.
Although his physical attributes had significantly improved with the help of the system, he still didn't fully realize just how strong he had become. He only dared to attack the pack of Sabre-toothed Tigers because he had the trump card of the Purple Sky Divine Thunder.
Unfortunately, this group of ferocious beasts couldn't even force him to use his superpower.
Xu Jingming glanced at the system panel. He had gained a whopping 106 Ability Points from this skirmish alone!
"What a bountiful harvest!" Xu Jingming thought joyfully.
If things continued this way, who knows how many Ability Points he could accumulate by the end of the martial arts exam!
"There's no point in thinking about it too much now; the key is to keep collecting Ability Points. I need to hurry to the next target," Xu Jingming decided.
Wiping the blood off his spear, he once again slung it across his back and rushed toward the next location...
On the day of the exam, all middle schools in Jiangcheng organized a viewing of the martial arts exam's live broadcast for their first and second-year students.
On the one hand, this allowed the students to understand the brutality and bloody reality of the martial arts exam. On the other hand, it provided an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the habits of ferocious beasts in advance.
At that moment, the gymnasium of Jiangcheng Second Middle School featured the same virtual projection suspended in the air as in the military district. Around it, all the first and second-year students in the stands had been watching the broadcast for some time.
In previous years, the top ten in Jiangcheng always featured students from First Middle School. Therefore, the participants from other schools were usually the most discussed.
But this year, everything had changed—a participant from their school had also broken into the top ten!
Xu Jingming!
When Xu Jingming burst onto the large screen, taking the ninth place, the entire Second Middle School—both teachers and students—erupted in indescribable excitement! Especially the moment he pierced the Shadow Cat with a single spear thrust, it caused a storm of emotions among the students.
"Holy hell! What a cool spear thrust!"
"Even though I hadn't heard of Senior Xu before, from this moment on, he's my idol!"
"Senior is so tall and strong, just unbelievably cool!"
Unlike the Head of the Department and the school principal in the military district who were lamenting over Xu Jingming's potential, the students who saw his breakthrough into the top ten genuinely rejoiced and admired him. Many even began to view him as a role model.
However, over the next thirty-plus minutes, Xu Jingming mainly moved and rarely engaged in combat. This disappointed the students, especially when his ranking dropped to 10th place. Some students even began to feel nervous, wishing they could be in Xu Jingming's place to unleash a bloody slaughter and reclaim a high ranking.
"Alas, it seems our Second Middle School still doesn't measure up. We finally got a Senior who broke into the top ten, but in the end, he ran out of steam."
"Though I hate to admit it, Senior Xu really has run out of steam."
"Fine, I'll go watch Zhou Mingyang, the top-ranked one nicknamed 'The Wind's Light Sword,' instead."
The higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment. The students of Second Middle School were so delighted by the appearance of a participant who broke into the top ten that they naturally hoped for his continued progress. However, Xu Jingming's performance triggered a wave of negative comments among the spectators in the stands. Many students began to switch their attention to the broadcasts of other popular participants.
"Look quickly, Senior Xu has found ferocious beasts!" someone suddenly shouted, and all eyes turned back to Xu Jingming's broadcast.
The screen showed Xu Jingming standing on the roof of a bus, with massive Sabre-toothed Tigers below!
"Oh no, Senior has encountered a pack of ferocious beasts!"
"A pack of Sabre-toothed Tigers, this is the end."
"Why isn't Senior leaving yet?! If he doesn't leave now, it will be too late!"
"That's it, the Sabre-toothed Tigers have surrounded him; he won't be able to escape."
"Why isn't Senior activating the protective sphere? The situation is already very dangerous!"
Although Xu Jingming's recent performance had disappointed the students, he was still a senior from their school. Therefore, when he encountered a pack of ferocious beasts, all the students couldn't help but be worried.
When five Sabre-toothed Tigers leaped at Xu Jingming, who hadn't activated the protective sphere, some girls even covered their eyes with their hands in fear.
However, the expected scene of the ferocious beasts devouring Xu Jingming did not happen. Instead, Xu Jingming, swinging his black spear, repelled the five Sabre-toothed Tigers in an unstoppable manner!
"Holy hell, he's that strong?!"
The final translated text is below.
At this moment, the hearts of all the spectators in the stands skipped a beat.
"Can a spear be used in such a way?"
"That strength is simply incredible! If an ordinary person swung a long spear like that, not only would they fail to injure the Sabre-toothed Tigers, but they would be crushed by their enormous bodies themselves!"
"It seems Senior Xu has awakened a body-enhancing superpower. Otherwise, it's impossible to achieve this level!"
In an instant, all the students' dissatisfaction towards Xu Jingming completely vanished!
And then, Xu Jingming transformed into a black shadow, holding the black spear. Like lightning, he flashed between the five Sabre-toothed Tigers, continuously attacking and slaying them. His black spear, coated in the blood of the ferocious beasts, turned bright red.
No one felt any discomfort from this scene. On the contrary, everyone was exhilarated.
"What a brutal sight, but I love it!"
"Amazing! This is much more captivating than watching the light swings of the Wind's Light Sword!"
"Every spear thrust hits the mark; what a dominant spear technique!"
Ferocious beasts were the enemies of humanity—this was a universally accepted fact. Therefore, when the Sabre-toothed Tigers were mercilessly slaughtered, no one felt pity; on the contrary, everyone experienced incredible satisfaction.
Especially that tall, slender figure, flickering among the beasts—each spear thrust carried a unique brutality. This brutality didn't seem gory; rather, it was full of aesthetics.
This caused the blood of these sixteen and seventeen-year-old youths, who were in the prime of their youth, to boil, their faces flushing with excitement.